[Chris Saper]

Hi Mike,

I was tickled to open this post and see Layne's portrait! I agree the "what to leave in?" question is always angst-producing. I think that the frame on the wall does provide a good visual 'stop' and redirects the eye back to the face. Also I love the color fo the flowers, but you're right, there is painfully little visual info to help. I've had this problem before and found the only way I could really deal with the flowers (or vase, or whatever) was to get a real bouquet, set them up in my studio,(I try to mimic the light quality of the source photo)and then do that part of the painting from life.

The exception to this is that I actually remembered to properly photgraph flowers at my last portrait shoot, roses that were strewn about.

Back to the flowers...what I like about the pink flowers is that their placement cements the viewpoint, that one is looking at Layne from a low angle, past the flowers...her expression really lends itself to a wide range of interpretations, which adds tremendously to a portrait's universal appeal.

Great job, Mike, I can imagine that Layne is thrilled!

Chris